Railroad car with movable load-reinforcing means



July 14, 1970 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,520,256

RAILROAD CAR WITH MOVABLE LOAD-REINFORCING MEANS Filed Dec. 26, 1967 SSheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JACK E. GUTR/DGE ATT'Y.

July 14,1970

RAILROAD CAR WITH MOVABLE LOAD-REINFORCING MEANS Filed Dec. 26, 1967 J.E. GUTRIDGE 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 IN VEN TOR JACK E. GUTR/ DGE ATT'Y.

United States Patent 3,520,256 RAILROAD CAR WITH MOVABLELOAD-REINFORCING MEANS Jack E. Gutridge, Dyer, Ind., assignor to PullmanIncorporated, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 26,1967, Ser. No. 693,405 Int. Cl. B61d 3/06; B65j N22 US. Cl. 105-366Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A railroad car having an open top andcomprising a central container receiving well defined by end and sidewalls, container support means located in the bottom of the wellincluding a pair of end corner container supports and a central support,a movable re-inforcing bulkhead being selectively positionable at saidcentral support and at one of the end supports, means for carrying thebulkhead on the side walls between the center and end of the well andlock means on the side walls to lock the bulkhead at the center and atthe end of the well stiffening the side walls torsionally and laterallywhen the well receives a pair of longitudinally extending tandem alignedcontainer means supported at the ends and center of the well.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Field of invention This invention relates toimproved railroad construction and in particular is directed to railroadcars that carry lading bearing containers where the car is of the opentop type and the containers have been loaded into the car from anoverhead position.

Description of the prior art The are of construction of high capacitycontainers cars is known, as for instance, from US. Pat. No. 3,319,583,wherein lading bearing containers are stored within an open top car thatis provided with a central depressed lading area or well that receivesmultiple containers that exert vertical loading forces at the ends ofthe well, as well as in the central portions of the well, and it isnecessary to strengthen the central portions of the car under certainloading conditions and yet under other loading conditions to adapt thecar well for handling containers where there is no load force exerted onthe central portion of the car well. It is in this problem area that theinvention presents the solution.

SUMMARY This invention is related to an improved railroad carconstruction that is selectively adaptable to the storage of onecontinuous container within the well of the high capacity container carof the open top type car and in the alternate to be adapted to receivinga pair of longitudinally aligned tandem containers of more or less equallength which exert downward bearing forces at the central portion of thewell, as well as at the ends of the well. In particular, the inventiveconstruction provides for a movable reinforcing member or bulkhead thatmay be positioned medially of the end wall of the container well car orat one of the ends of the well of the container car, the movablebulkhead or gate being provided with means for carrying the bulkheadalong or over the sides of the car well between a central lockedposition and an end locked or stored position. The bulkhead in thecentral position reinforces the sidewalls so that the sidewalls do notbuckle or laterally sway or are not subjected to "Ice torsional forcedue to the lading forces of the tandem containers'exerting a forceagainst the bottom central portions of the side walls. The movablereinforcing member is held in the central well position by pivotallocking elements mounted on the side walls at the centers thereof. Themovable bulkhead is further provided with locking means located at theend of the well on the side Walls. The movable gate or bulkhead issecured at the center of the car with the lock elements to transmittorsional car body loads due to the tandem containers from the sidewalls and through the gate structure, the gate stifiening the car sidestress members torsionally and laterally. Further roller means on thebulkhead or gate engage the tops of the sidewalls to permit movement ofthe gate between the center and an end of the car. These and otherobjects of the invention will become apparent from reference to thefollowing description, appended claims, and attached drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the railroadcar provided with the novel movable load-reinforcing means;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2illustrating the movable bulkhead in the center of car well lockedposition;

FIG. 4 is a partial view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the locking of the endof car well locking means;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating the center of welllocking means for the movable bulkhead;

FIG. 8 is a view of the movable bulkhead and the end of car lock meanslocking the movable bulkhead at the end of the car well as shown indotted line position in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a partial plane view of the car showing the movable bulkheadin the end of car position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to thedrawings there is shown a railroad car 1 of the high capacity containertype or open gondola construction wherein the upright wall structures ofthe car body are skeletal in nature and wherein the car is provided witha central depressed well for receiving containers therein as well aselevated end sections for receiving containers (see FIG. 1). Such aconstruction is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,319,583 and comprises a car body1a carried by a car underframe 111 provided with a pair of ribbon sills1c and trucks 1d (see FIGS. 1, 2, 8 and 9). The car body 1a is of askeletal framework construction 2 provided with end frames or walls 3, 4and sideframes or walls 5, 6, end open elevated floor sections 7, 8,slope sections 9, 10 and a central section 11. The central section 11comprises a container well 12 as defined by the central portion of theside walls 5, 6 and intermediate or end well walls or end frames 12a and12b (FIG. 1). A novel movable bulkhead for structure reinforcing means13 is located centrally within the well and defines two separate centralwell compartments 12'a and 12'b (FIG. 9), each well section 12a and 12'bbeing provided with a pair of vertically stacked, longitudinallyextending containers 14 (FIG. 1) which, for purposes of illustrationhere, are 20 feet in length. Should the movable bulkhead 13 be moved toone end of the well 12 leaving an elongated unobstructed central wellcompartment, then a pair of doubly stacked 40 foot containers could beplaced in the well. The container storage space or well 12 is providedwith a centrally located container support connected to the centralbottom portions of the side wall and 6 and is designated as 15. The fourend corners of the wells have at their bottoms corner end supports 16(FIGS. 1 and 9) for support of container means. Further containersupport means are provided for storage of containers 14 in the ends orelevated sections 7, 8 and are designated as 17. Center of well bulkheador reinforcing structure lock means 18 is provided at the center of caror well 12 and includes, as best viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, top left lockmeans 19, top right lock means 20, bottom left lock means 21, and bottomright lock means 21, all of which are mounted on the upper and lowerportions of the side walls 5 and 6 as indicated. Each of the lock means19, 20, 21 and 22 is identical in construction to the other andcooperatively locks into the upper and lower laterals of the movablebulkhead 13 and, therefore, a description of the top right lock means 20will suflice for the other lock means, appreciating that the collectivepurpose of these lock means is to tie the reinforcing means or bulkhead13 into the side wall structures 5 and 6 of the car in order to preventlateral deflection or torsional loading on the side walls when thehalf-size or 20 foot containers are placed in each of the wellcompartments 12a and 12b such that the containers exert a downward forceon the central support 15 and thereby tend to deflect the side Walls.The deflection is prevented by physically rigidly tying the cross memberor bulkhead 13 into the side walls of the car. The top right lock meansas seen in FIGS. 2-5, 7 and 9, comprises a bi-legged upright supportstructure 20a pivotally carrying a support arm 20b that extendsdownwardly and carries gate lock 200 that has an outwardly taperinglatch cone 20d extendable into conical opening 20d in the top beam ofthe bulkhead 13. The cone 20d extends out perpendicularly from thepivotal arm 20b that carries it. At the end of the arm 20b and above thelarge cone 20d and mounted on the arm 2% is a pivotal over-center catch20@ that is pivotally mounted on the arm 20b. The catch 20e is providedwith a catch support 202, in the form of a pair of trunnions, thatpivotally carries it and is mounted on the arm 20b. An eccentric lever20 is fixedly mounted eccentrically on journals 20f which are rotativelycarried in the trunnions of support 202. The eccentric lever 20 isfixedly attached to latch arm 20g. Movement of lever 20] moves latch 20gin an eccentric path relative to rotatable journals 20 The latch arm 20ghas a hook end 2011 that engages over the abutment or stop 40 on top ofthe beam 25 of the gate or bulkhead 13 (see FIG. 5). As shown in FIGS. 3and 4, U-shaped lock 20i has one of its legs always inserted into guidehole 20m and the other leg inserted into fixed hole 201 and then intoeither position hole 20 or 20k for locking of the lock means 20 in thedown or solid line position or in the elevated or dotted line position,as shown in FIG. 4. The components and arrangement described in thisparagraph are similarly found on the other locks 19, 21 and 22.

The movable bulkhead or reinforcing means 13 comprises diagonalintersecting strut members or cross beams 23, 24 and top and bottomtransverse chord beams 25, 26 and left and right upright beams 27 and 28(as best seen in FIG. 8). When the movable bulkhead is locked to thecentral portion of the well 12, it lies adjacent the center left andright side posts 29 and 30 of the car body which is further providedwith left and right topside chords 31 and 32 and left and right bottomchords 33 and 34- to define the side walls 5 and 6 (see FIG. 8).

End well lock means 35 are located at one end of the well 12 andcomprise a plurality of four locks, top end well locks 36 and 37 andbottom end well locks 38 and 39 mounted on the side walls 5 and 6 at theend of the well 12 as seen in FIGS. 1, 6, 8 and 9 and description of theend lock 36 will suffice for the lock 37 since each 4 is similar to oneanother. The lock 36 comprises a pivotally mounted U-shaped locking arm3611 that moves from the dotted line or stored position to the solidline or locked position in slot 43 in the bulkhead 13 (see FIG. 6). Thearm 36a is held to the top chord 32 by the pivotal mounting or anchor36b.

The end well locks 38 and 39 are located at the bottom of the end of thewell as distinguished from the end locks 37 and 36 which are located atthe top of the side wall. Each lock 38 and 39 is similar to the otherand therefore, description of lock 39 will suffice for lock 38. The lock39 comprises a bolt and latch type lock with the bolt 39a on the carside wall slidable in car side wall mounted latch 39]; having latchgrooves 39c for holding the bolt locking pin 39d in position in a bottomopening 39e in bulkhead or gate 13.

The gate or bulkhead may be moved between the central lock means 18 orthe end well lock means 35 by gate rollers 41, 41 on each top side ofthe lateral ends of the bulkhead 13. The rollers 41, 41 are held bytheir respective roller supports 42, 42 (FIG. 7) mounted on the lateraltop ends of the bulkhead 13. The rollers ride over the inner flanges ofthe side top chords 31 and 32 respectively between the center and theend of the well 12 for placing the bulkhead or reinforcing member 13either in the central position, as shown in solid line in FIG. 1, or inthe end stored position in dotted line in FIG. 1. When the bulkhead iscentrally located and locked to the side walls it permits half-sizecontainers to be stored on either side of the bulkhead in thecompartments 13a and 13b with the tandem aligned container beingsupported on supports 15 and 16. If it should be decided to carrycontainers of twice the length than, say, the 20- foot containers, suchas 40-foot containers, then the reinforcing means for the bulkhead 13 ismoved to the end of the well and locked there by lock means 35 and thenthe 40-foot container which spans the length of the well is placedwithin the well held by the corner supports 16 only.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain andillustrate the invention, and the invention is not to be limitedthereto, since those skilled in the art who have the disclosure beforethem will be able to make modifications and variations therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A railroad car of the open top type comprising:

a central container receiving well being defined by the end and sidewalls,

container support means being located in the bottom of the wellincluding a pair of container end supports and a container centralsupport connecting with the side walls,

a movable container load reinforcing bulkhead being selectivelypositionable substantially at the central support and substantially atone of the end supports,

central lock means mounted on the upper and lower portions of the sidewalls substantially adjacent the central support whereby the upper andlower portions of said bulkhead may be locked to the upper and lowerportions of the side walls stiffening the side walls torsionally andlaterally for the well to receive a pair of longitudinally extendingtandem aligned pair of generally half well length containers supportedat the center and ends of the well, said central lock means having upperand lower releasably locking means extending longitudinally of the carfor engagement with the bulkhead and clamping transversely of the carwith said bulkhead in the in-use locking position for the stiffening ofthe side walls torsionally and laterally, and

end lock means mounted on the side walls substantially at the endthereof for receiving and locking said reinforcing bulkhead at the endof the well in the stored position for accommodating substantially fullwell length containers supported by the end supports.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

said lock means substantially at the central support being pivotallymounted and swingable vertically about the longitudinal axis of the carfrom the outof-use position to the in-use locking position.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

said locking means comprising a plurality of pivotal lock arrangementsfor stiffening being pivotally mounted on the upper and lower parts ofsaid side wall and centrally thereof,

said bulkhead having a plurality of lock receiving means forcomplemental cooperation with the lock arrangements, and

each lock arrangement being pivotal in transverse planes and carrying atits end a bulkhead coupling structure extending in the longitudinaldirection of car movement and adapted for engagement with the lockreceiving means on said movable bulkhead.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and

said bulkhead coupling structure being a cone-shaped member and saidlock receiving means having aperture means for receiving saidcone-shaped member.

5. The invention according to claim 1, and

said means for moving the bulkhead from the central to the end positioncomprising roller means carried on the upper portion of the lateral endsof said bulkhead and engageable with the top of the side walls formovement of the bulkhead from the central to the end position.

6. The invention according to claim 1, and

said bulkhead having top aperture means,

said end lock means comprising pivotal hook elements mounted on upperportion of said side wall adjacent said well end and swingable fromunlocking to locking positions into said bulkhead aperture means on topof said bulkhead.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and

said bulkhead having bottom portion openings,

said end lock means comprising end latch means mounted at the bottomportion of the side walls and receivable in openings in the bottomportion of said bulkhead and having means for locking said end latchwithin said bulkhead openings.

8. A railroad car of the open top type comprising:

a central container receiving well being defined by the end and sidewalls,

container support means being located in the bottom of the wellincluding a pair of container end supports and a central support,

a movable container load reinforcing bulkhead being selectivelypositionable substantially at the central support and substantially atone of the end supports,

central lock means mounted on the side walls substantially adjacent thecentral support whereby said bulkhead may be locked to the side wallsstiffening the side walls torsionally and laterally for the well toreceive a pair of longitudinally extending tandem aligned pair ofcontainers supported at the center and ends of the well, and

end lock means mounted on the side walls substantially at the endthereof for receiving and locking said reinforcing bulkhead at the endof the well in the stored position for accommodating substantially fullwell length containers supported by the end supports,

said central lock means comprising a pivotal lock means comprising apivotal lock arrangement pivotally mounted on the upper and lower partsof said side wall and centrally thereof,

said bulkhead having a lock receiving means,

said locking structure being pivotal in transverse planes and carryingat its end a bulkhead coupling structure extending in the longitudinaldirection of car movement and adapted for engagement with the lockreceiving means on said movable bulkhead,

latch means being carried on said central lock means adjacent saidbulkhead coupling structure for moving the bulkhead coupling structurecarried thereby into tight locking position with said bulkhead.

9. The invention according to claim 8, and

said latch means being movably mounted to be moved into tight lockedengagement with the bulkhead.

10. The invention according to claim 8, and

said latch means being eccentrically mounted on the central lock meansand being longitudinally movable for tight engagement with the bulkhead.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,007,423 11/1961 Maharick -3763,112,712 12/1963 Cisco 105376 3,319,583 5/1967 Gutridge 1053663,389,663 6/1968 Gutridge 105366 DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Primary ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

